Kaisley’s “Cottage On The Beach”

      
 When I randomly mentioned to my daughter that I was thinking of moving my office to my college son’s old room for more space  it never occurred to me that she would suddenly jump at the chance to move her room to my office.  She liked the way it was set apart from the other bedrooms, she said, and the way it had two little steps leading up to the door.  It’s like “a little apartment” she said.  She started getting so excited it was all she could think about.  And, being the daughter of an interior designer – the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree – she began to mentally design her “new digs”.  It all sounded good and well except for the itty bitty little fact that it meant three rooms had to be redesigned and redecorated instead of two.  And how was I supposed to go about making such a shuffle?   Where was all the furniture and “junk” supposed to go as we moved from one room to the next.  It was a daunting task to even think about….almost too daunting.   As much as I love redecorating – to clean out three rooms, three closets, move all that furniture, re-paint walls and furniture, have new drapes made – it was overwhelming.  I almost couldn’t bring myself to do it, but in the end (mostly at my daughter’s urging) I decided to go for it.  I wish I could find the pictures of her room before I changed it, but suffice it to say it had turquoise walls, one accent wall was entirely covered in fashion magazine tear sheets, and the room was filled with…well….all sorts of teenager clutter.  So the journey began….my son’s room became my office, my office became my daughter’s hip, new bedroom, and her old room became our cozy, new guest room.            
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
 Since my other guest room became a Tuscan space with dark colors I wanted to go a different direction altogether with this room.  Well, that and I also wanted something that could eventually double as a cozy little space for my granddaughter.   With that in mind I settled on a “Cottage On the Beach” theme.  Or better known as “Kaisley’s Cottage”. I had the color palette in my mind and once I found the bedding with the minty green I wanted it was time to paint.  I went to Sherwin Williams to get some paint samples of the different greens that I wanted to try.  Then after going through countless samples of green I realized finding the right color was useless without priming the turquoise walls first.  A step I had so hoped to avoid.  Yes, I was just being lazy and didn’t want to do it.  But, after wasting half a day sampling green paint against the turquoise walls and coming up with a murky version of every color I tried I finally gave up, broke down and primed the walls which did the trick.   I finally settled on Sherwin Williams Baize Green.  Next, I had a picture of a white, crackled driftwood chest that I really liked and decided that would look cool as an accent wall.  It was definitely a “learn as you go” experiment (I had no idea what I was doing) and when I was finished I was convinced it looked awful and needed to be re-painted in the green.  But, to my surprise, my daughter actually liked it and talked me into keeping it.  Now I’m glad I did.      

   
                                                             

   
Yes, there are plenty of mistakes, but overall it looks pretty good.    I found the wonderful quilted bedding and pillows at Marshalls and was able to combine different prints to create a cozy look.  I bought two extra quilts and made one into a window treatment by cutting it in half and creating side hems where the cuts were,  and making a rod pocket at the top for a curtain rod.  I used the other quilt for a curtain for the closet instead of the closet doors.  I didn’t do any sewing at all for this one.  I just flipped the top over to shorten the length and create a small valance. I hung it from iron rings so it could easily slide back and forth.   At a local second-hand shop I found an old Singer sewing machine and painted it Sherwin Williams Queen Anne’s Lace White just like I did with all the furniture in the room.  (This is a way to unify mismatched pieces in a space and give them purpose instead of looking hodge-podge)  The dresser, the desk, the toy box (that’s been in both the boy’s rooms at one time and served as a home for stuffed animals for my daughter), the nightstand, the shelves, the picture frames……all white.  After looking all over creation for a rug I was shocked to find the perfect one at Big Lots for only $35.00.  I found the rocking chair at the same second-hand shop I found the Singer sewing machine and used a pillow case from Marshalls to make a slip cover for the old cushion that came with it.  I recovered the small foot stool in a pink and white toile.  I found the green shelves and “beachy” wreathes at HomeGoods.  It was a lot of work, but I’m really happy with the end result.            

Singer Sewing Machine Became A Sweet Vanity